Page 93 - Australian Defence Magazine Dec19-Jan20

DECEMBER 2019 – JANUARY 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
PROJECTS MARITIME 93
struct the first two of 12 Arafura-class offshore patrol ves- sels (OPVs) for the RAN.
The remaining 10 OPVs will be built in Henderson near Perth by the Australian Maritime Shipping and Export Group, a Civmec/Luerssen joint venture. To facilitate the split build, steel for the two Osborne-constructed ships is being cut in Western Australia by Civmec.
The keel of the first 1,640-tonne OPV was laid in May 2019. Launch is scheduled for May 2021, with delivery in December after trials and verification.
Construction of the second ship began in August 2019 with launch anticipated in February 2022, while work on Ship Three will begin in Henderson in April 2020, with launch forecast for November 2023.
The OPVs are intended to replace the 12-strong Armi- dale-class patrol boat fleet, but when is not yet clear. Rear Admiral Wendy Malcolm, CASG’s Head Maritime Systems Division in Defence’s Capability and Sustainment Group (CASG) told a Senate Estimates hearing in April that a study was underway to provide Navy with options for ex- tending the life of the Armidales until the late 2020s.
ANZACS
Meanwhile HMAS Arunta, the first of the Anzac-class to complete a full mid-life Capability Assurance Program (AMCAP) involving around 300,000 hours of work at BAE
Systems’ Henderson facility, rejoined the fleet in June. Work on HMAS Anzac began in September and HMAS Warramunga will go on the hardstand in mid-2020, with the upgrade of all eight Anzac vessels scheduled for completion in 2023. Some preliminary AMCAP work was undertaken on HMAS Perth before she was laid up in 2017 because crew shortages. The ship will now follow Warramunga with work starting in the first quarter of 2020, ready for her scheduled return to service in 2021.
The AMCAP forms the major work element within a $2 billion Warship Asset Management Agreement signed in April 2016 under which BAE Systems Australia, Saab Aus- tralia, Naval Ship Management, and the Commonwealth are jointly supporting the Anzacs until their replacement between 2030 and 2043 by the Hunter-class.
The AMCAP scope of work includes the replacement under Project Sea 1448 4B of the ageing Raytheon SPS- 49(V)8 ANZ long-range air-search radar with the CEA- FAR2 L-band radar. This has been developed from the CEAFAR X-band/S-band active phased array system in- stalled on the Anzacs as part of their recent anti-ship mis- sile defence (ASMD) upgrade.
ABOVE: The Hunter class program has moved ahead in leaps and bounds in 2019.
BAE SYSTEMS